USS ''Glacier'' (AGB-4) (later USCGC ''Glacier'' (WAG/WAGB-4)) was a U.S. Navy, then U.S. Coast Guard

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

which served in the first through fifteenth

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...

expeditions. ''Glacier'' was the first icebreaker to make her way through the frozen

Bellingshausen Sea The Bellingshausen Sea is an area along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula between 57°18'W and 102°20'W, west of Alexander Island, east of Cape Flying Fish on Thurston Island, and south of Peter I Island (there the southern ''Vostokkyste ...

, and most of the topography in the area is named for her crew members. When built, ''Glacier'' had the largest capacity single armature DC motors ever installed on a ship. ''Glacier'' was capable of breaking ice up to thick, and of continuous breaking of thick ice at . Named for

Glacier Bay Glacier Bay Basin in southeastern Alaska, in the United States, encompasses the Glacier Bay and surrounding mountains and glaciers, which was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925, and which was later, on December 2, 1980 ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, USS ''Glacier'' was launched on 27 August 1954 at

Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and at 12,500 ...

Corp.,

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...

, sponsored by Mrs. Roscoe F. Good; and commissioned on 27 May 1955, CDR. E.H. Mayer USN, Commanding. ''Glacier'' is the only

built in the ''Glacier'' class, and was in U.S. Navy service for 11 years, and U.S. Coast Guard service for 21 years.

Construction

Diagram of Wind-class icebreaker in 1956

''Glacier'' was essentially an improved , larger and more powerful. Like them, her entire hull was designed for great strength. With a relatively short length in proportion to the great power developed, her bow had the characteristic sloping forefoot that enabled her to ride up on heavy ice and break it with the weight of the vessel. The stern was similarly shaped to facilitate breaking ice while backing down. The sides of the icebreaker were rounded, with marked

tumblehome Tumblehome is a term describing a hull which grows narrower above the waterline than its beam. The opposite of tumblehome is flare. A small amount of tumblehome is normal in many naval architecture designs in order to allow any small projection ...

, and she had fore, aft and side heeling tanks that enabled the ship to break free from ice by heeling from side to side and changing trim fore to aft. Diesel electric machinery was chosen for its controllability and resistance to damage.

Ship's history

Antarctic operations, 1955–1960

''Glacier''s shakedown cruise and maiden voyage were combined in "Operation Deep Freeze I", as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

for Rear Admiral

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

. Her first encounter with the ice was in December 1955, breaking through the

Ross Ice Pack Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

, she carved out an ice harbor in

Kainan Bay Kainan Bay is an iceport which indents the front of the Ross Ice Shelf about northeast of the northwestern end of Roosevelt Island, Antarctica. It was discovered in January 1902 by the British National Antarctic Expedition under Robert Falcon ...

to allow the discharge of cargo from vessels at the site for

Little America V Little America was a series of Antarctic exploration bases from 1929 to 1958, located on the Ross Ice Shelf, south of the Bay of Whales. The coordinates are approximate. Little America I The first base in the series was established in January ...

. ''Glacier'' continued west to break ice into an off-loading site to establish the U.S. Naval Air Facility at

McMurdo Sound McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo o ...

. In March 1956, ''Glacier'' explored the

Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha ...

. ''Glacier'' then surveyed

Vincennes Bay Vincennes Bay is a large V-shaped bay, 105 km (65 mi) wide at its entrance between Cape Nutt and Cape Folger in Antarctica, marked by several large, steep glaciers near its head, lying along Knox and Budd Coasts. It was photographed f ...

Wilkes Land Wilkes Land is a large district of land in eastern Antarctica, formally claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, though the validity of this claim has been placed for the period of the operation of the Antarctic Treaty, ...

and made the first landing in history on the Princess Martha and Princess Astrid coasts. ''Glacier'' returned to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, her home port, on 6 May 1956 after these accomplishments. The ship returned to McMurdo Sound on 28 October 1956 for "Deep Freeze II", having made the earliest seasonal penetration in history. ''Glacier'' then delivered stores and supplies at

McMurdo Vice-Admiral Archibald McMurdo (24 September 1812 – 11 December 1875) was a Scottish naval officer and polar explorer after whom Antarctica's McMurdo Sound, McMurdo Station, McMurdo Ice Shelf, McMurdo Dry Valleys and McMurdo–South Pole ...

and then Little America, she led seven other ships of the

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...

(RNZN) through the ice pack to the two Antarctic bases. In January 1957 she led two cargo ships into Vincennes Bay where the last of the seven American bases for the

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; french: Année géophysique internationale) was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific ...

was to be constructed. ''Glacier'' departed Wilkes Station on 17 February 1957 for the United States via

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia when the operation was completed. During "Deep Freeze III" and the IGY of 1957–1958, ''Glacier'' participated as a launching platform for "

rockoon A rockoon (from ''rocket'' and ''balloon'') is a solid fuel sounding rocket that, rather than being immediately lit while on the ground, is first carried into the upper atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon, then separated from the balloon and ign ...

" tests during which balloon-lifted rockets gathered information of interest to the "Explorer" space satellite program. Additionally, ''Glacier'' continued her usual icebreaking and escort duties, and conducted oceanographic surveys in the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who vi ...

. In the summer of 1958, ''Glacier'' provided ice-escort for "Operation Sunec" for the resupply of North Polar radar and weather stations. By November 1958, however, she was again near the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

at McMurdo Sound, and after resupplying the base, steamed to Little America V to begin the station deactivation. Subsequently, while operating in the

Terra Nova Bay Terra Nova Bay is a bay which is often ice free, about long, lying between Cape Washington and the Drygalski Ice Tongue along the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition (known as the ...

on the coast of

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. It ...

, she discovered two unknown islands and what was likely the largest

emperor penguin The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing from . Feathers of th ...

rookery A rookery is a colony of breeding animals, generally gregarious birds. Coming from the nesting habits of rooks, the term is used for corvids and the breeding grounds of colony-forming seabirds, marine mammals (true seals and sea lions), and ev ...

in the Antarctic, home of over 50,000 of the large birds. ''Glacier'' then sped to the assistance of the Belgian expedition ship RV ''Polarhav'' near Breid Bay, halfway around the Antarctic continent from the

. For "Operation Deep Freeze 5" in 1959–1960, ''Glacier'' sailed to McMurdo and then on an exploration of the

. In late February 1960 ''Glacier'' raced to assist

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

icebreaker and Danish cargo ship . When this rescue mission was accomplished, ''Glacier'' sailed to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil on 2 April 1960 and provided emergency assistance to flooded areas there for twelve days. ''Glacier'' also did relief operations; providing helicopter and boat transportation, and emergency supplies to residents of

Paramaribo, Suriname Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's po ...

after the floods. ''Glacier'' then got underway for

, Massachusetts on 17 April 1960.

Antarctic operations, 1960–1966

The icebreaker departed Boston on 13 October 1960 on her sixth Antarctic voyage and reached

Lyttelton, New Zealand Lyttelton (Māori: ''Ōhinehou'') is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō, at the northwestern end of Banks Peninsula and close to Christchurch, on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. As a landing ...

on 21 November 1960 to unload cargo. Most of December 1960 was spent in breaking a channel through McMurdo Sound to open the way for supply ships. ''Glacier'' returned to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand for repairs, and to receive the U.S.

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Co ...

for her Bellingshausen Sea expedition success. She then returned to the

Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen began ...

and Bellingshausen Seas on another expedition. Oceanographic work continued until March 1961 when she sailed for Boston, arriving on 27 April 1961. Underway again on 8 October 1961 for "Deep Freeze 62", she loaded cargo at Lyttelton, New Zealand, in early November 1961 and entered the Ross Sea ice pack on 13 November 1961, reaching McMurdo Sound by the end of the month. After repairs at Wellington, ''Glacier'' returned to McMurdo Station and to the site of Little America V for cartographic studies. She returned to New Zealand on 6 March 1962 and then put in at Boston on 5 May 1962 after steaming . ''Glacier'' stood out of Boston on 17 September 1962 for "Deep Freeze 63", entering the pack ice on 6 November 1962 and reaching the edge of the bay ice of McMurdo Sound a week later. ''Glacier'' sustained minor damage in the thick ice and proceeded to Wellington for repairs. On 31 December 1962, ''Glacier'' cut through McMurdo Sound en route to McMurdo Station. She continued operations off McMurdo Station through 1965. Her diverse duties included keeping the channel open for supply ships. On 29 December 1965, US ships ''Atka'' and assisted her in pushing an iceberg out of the shipping lane. After further participation in her 11th "Operation Deep Freeze", ''Glacier'' returned to Boston in the late spring of 1966. On 1 July 1966, ''Glacier'' was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

, the day after her transfer to the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

Coast Guard operations, 1966–1987

Prior to her transfer to the U.S. Coast Guard, ''Glacier'' had her smaller armament removed. In September 1967, ''Glacier'' departed her new homeport of

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

en route to the

Chukchi Sea Chukchi Sea ( rus, Чуко́тское мо́ре, r=Chukotskoye more, p=tɕʊˈkotskəjə ˈmorʲɪ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west b ...

north of Cape Lisbourne, Alaska, to aid in the rescue of , beset in Arctic ice. The Canadian icebreaker had freed ''Northwind'' by the time of ''Glacier''s arrival. ''Glacier'' departed Arctic waters to sail to Port Lyttelton, to start Operation Deep Freeze 1967–68. Due to the ''Northwind'' rescue trip, ''Glacier'' had crossed the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

International Dateline The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted demarcation on the surface of Earth, running between the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific O ...

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

, and

Antarctic Circle The Antarctic Circle is the most southerly of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of Earth. The region south of this circle is known as the Antarctic, and the zone immediately to the north is called the Southern Temperate Zone. S ...

lines all within six weeks, attaining "Square Knot Sailor" status in that short time frame. ''Glacier'' and other USCG icebreakers opened up the McMurdo shipping lanes, then returned to Port Lyttelton. At that time an experimental navigational satellite (NavSat) system was installed in ''Glacier'' by the Applied Physics Lab of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, to allow precise positioning in the upcoming exploration in the Weddell Sea. ''Glacier'' transited the South Pacific Ocean to

Punta Arenas, Chile Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Aren ...

and the

Magellan Straits The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...

, then entered the Weddell Sea as lead vessel for the 1968 International Weddell Sea Oceanographic Expedition. ''Glacier'' occupied most of the scheduled oceanographic sampling stations in the Weddell Sea. Current meter arrays were set with the precise positioning of the NavSat system. These stations were to be revisited in three years, and the current meters sonic-released for data collection. The heavy fast ice in the Weddell Sea thwarted the scheduled retrieval of this array, until 1975. ''Glacier'' visited the new

Palmer Station Palmer Station is a United States research station in Antarctica located on Anvers Island, the only US station located north of the Antarctic Circle. Initial construction of the station finished in 1968. The station, like the other U.S. Antarcti ...

Anvers Island Anvers Island or Antwerp Island or Antwerpen Island or Isla Amberes is a high, mountainous island long, the largest in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. It was discovered by John Biscoe in 1832 and named in 1898 by the Belgian Antarctic ...

, after , to retrieve USN

Seabees United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

and transport them to Punta Arenas for eventual transit back to

Davisville, Rhode Island Davisville, Rhode Island is a village in the town of North Kingstown in the U.S. state of Rhode Island that was formerly the home of the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center, which housed the United States Navy's SeaBees. Village descr ...

. While departing Arthur Harbor at Palmer Station, ''Glacier'' was astern of . ''Southwind'' ran aground on an uncharted pinnacle (now called Southwind Rock), tearing out an section of hull. ''Glacier'' escorted the damaged ''Southwind'' across the

Drake Passage The Drake Passage (referred to as Mar de Hoces Hoces Sea"in Spanish-speaking countries) is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atla ...

to Puntas Arena, then up the West coast of South America to the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

. ''Glacier'' then departed Panama Canal for Long Beach. In 1968, the 5-inch guns were also removed. Only the

M2 Browning machine gun The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, w ...

M60 machine gun The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved for ...

s and small arms were retained for law enforcement purposes. During 1973, she and her helicopters were painted red for improved Arctic visibility. In 1975, ''Glacier'' was trapped in ice in Antarctica for six days, finally breaking free and escaping into the waters of

Antarctic Sound The Antarctic Sound is a body of water about long and from wide, separating the Joinville Island group from the northeast end of the Antarctic Peninsula. The sound was named by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskjöld for the e ...

on 10 March 1975. "She backed and rammed her way to the open sea with the use of only one of her two propellers," said the Coast Guard. Two of the three blades on her other screw were sheared off by "steel hard ice" on Wednesday 5 March, while en route to assist an Argentine icebreaker, ARA ''General San Martín'', which had engine trouble while on a supply mission to a south polar scientific base. The Argentine ship made its way to freedom on its own.

Decommissioning

Following 29 Antarctic and 10 Arctic deployments, ''Glacier'' was decommissioned in 1987. She went under the control of the U.S.

Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issue ...

, located in the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the ent ...

, on the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–S ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The Glacier Society saved ''Glacier'' from the

scrapyard A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish, British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and ...

in 2000, and planned to convert the ship into a hospital or research vessel. However, on 16 February 2012 ''Glacier'' was sold for $146,726 to be broken up by ESCO Marine in

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

. Efforts to save the vessel from the breakers continued as the ship was taken to the former naval base at Mare Island, Vallejo, on 17 April 2012 for cleaning.US senators move to save old ice breaker from scrap yard
JuneauEmpire.com, 17 April 2012. Nevertheless, she was towed away to Brownsville, arriving on 19 June. A last-minute stay of execution was rejected, and MARAD ordered her scrapping to begin on 2 July 2012.

Awards

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four sp ...

Antarctic Service Medal The Antarctica Service Medal (ASM) was established by the United States Congress on July 7, 1960, under s:Public Law 86-600, Public Law 600 of the 86th United States Congress, 86th Congress. The medal was intended as a awards and decorations of ...

References

* * U.S. Department of Homeland Security. United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/default.asp * U.S. Department of Homeland Security. United States Coast Guard. ''Medals and Awards Manual''. COMDTINST M1650.25D. MAY 1980.

External links

*
USS ''Glacier'' Association

American Society of Mechanical Engineers – USS ''Glacier''

The Glacier Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glacier (Agb-4) Icebreakers of the United States Coast Guard Icebreakers of the United States Navy Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi 1954 ships